Ever since I decided to become a teacher, I have been asked
the same questions over and over – and other than the infamous “what grade do
you want to teach”, the question of “why teach” is by far the most common. The truth is, I didn’t always want to be a teacher. Actually,
quite the opposite. Growing up when everyone kept telling me that teaching was
for me, I would laugh. You see, I was never a great student. I struggled with
mental and physical health problems, not to mention lacked any ounce of
self-esteem, so much so that school became a nightmare for me. I couldn’t even
imagine the idea of spending the rest of my lives within the walls of a school.
It wasn’t until I was in university that I started to
seriously consider my career options. Like a lot of other high school
students, I was strongly encouraged (read: forced) to go to post-secondary
straight after graduation. And like most, I didn’t really know what I wanted to
do – or who I was. One thing that I was sure, and had always known was that I
wanted to change to world.
Yea, I know, Cliché. But its really not. I went from wanting
to be a child psychologist, to a nurse, to taking a year off and being
unbelievable confused. It wasn’t until I was sitting at my desk; in my office
job looking through university websites that started to remember all the times people had told me I should be a teacher. From that moment on it clicked, and everything I did was working towards becoming a teacher, working towards who I
am now. And there was no turning back.
In your last year of university, it’s easy to get caught up in the assignments and lose sight of what you’re working towards. It’s easy to start stressing about resumes and job interviews and the future: but all it takes is one day, one reminder, to bring it all back. For me, that was today.
Today, I had the opportunity to take part in the Werklund
School of Education Youth Forum as a facilitator. The event was an outlet for
the kids to talk about the issues, challenges and problems facing today’s youth
and then come up with strategies and action plans for them to make changes
regarding these issues in their own schools. To say the dialogue blew me away
is an understatement. These kids, both junior and senior high school age shared
so much insight on what they want to change about the daily struggles that face
themselves and their peers. They recognized the problems that face their
generation and came up with realistic solutions to bring back to their schools.
Topics ranged from LGBTQ issues, to youth poverty, personal and group identity
and everything in between. What was so special about today was that the
emphasis was on the voice of the youth. While teachers, student teachers and
other community members were present and active in conversations, the youth
lead the discussions and came up with solutions to some of the world’ biggest
problems. It was truly incredible.
I think that we can all learn a lot from these (and all)
kids. We need to realize that we may see their issues from our own
perspectives, but we will never really understand them until we take the time
to listen. These youth spoke up for what they believe in. They were given a
voice and were pushed to take that voice and make change. They were taught that
their opinions matter and that we, as adults, are on their side and want to
help them succeed, not only academically, but also in all aspects of their
lives. These youth are capable of anything, and as teachers it is our responsibility
to push them to be the best that they can be.
Today reminded me of that my goal is to make sure students have the opportunity, and the self confidence to speak up, stand up and be heard.
